Manually ironing articles of clothing and linens has been a labor-intensive activity for several decades. The ironing device has evolved over time with the addition of more features and more light-weight materials. However, manually ironing articles is still time consuming.
Automatic ironing systems have attempted to decrease the requirement for human intervention which has resulted in a savings of time, as well as improved safety from manual iron-induced burns and decreased heat to the user and the immediate environment.
One example of an automatic ironing system comprises two large presses that are fed with heat and steam. The article to be ironed is placed on a lower press, while the upper press is closed against the top side of the article. Since the two presses have a large surface area, the process is much faster than using a manual iron. However, this automatic ironing system is limited to relatively flat articles, such as linens.
Another example of an automatic ironing system comprises an upright enclosure in which the article is suspended and exposed to steam. This system provides ironing to non-flat articles, such as a dress or a shirt. However, the enclosure needs to be large enough to fit the largest desired article. As a result, a large enclosure would not be energy or time efficient when ironing a small article.
In addition to the disadvantages of the two systems described above, both systems are large, heavy, and costly. For many situations, the advantages of these automatic ironing systems do not outweigh the disadvantages.